NPN/VAN’s Annual Conference is a dynamic international forum for artists, arts leaders, activists, organizers, funders, and others to develop a more artist-centered, just, and sustainable performing and visual arts field.

Over four days, NPN/VAN Partners, artists, funders, and colleagues assemble to consider current issues, share solutions, examine local, national and international policies that shape the cultural environment, and expand knowledge.

At the AC, unlike at most other conferences, artists are integral to the meeting. The Annual Conference directly addresses artist equity issues by providing subsidies to NPN/VAN and local artists who are selected to mirror the diversity of the NPN/VAN community. Our intention is to create a deliberate and fair balance among attendees, thus creating a platform where artists and presenters are equal peer participants.

The Annual Conference also provides opportunities to share the work of local, national, and international artists that include ArtBursts (pop-up performances throughout the Conference), Idea Forums, In the Works, and “Live & On Stage”performance showcases.

Attendance is open to everyone interested in participating. However, space is limited in order to facilitate intentional networking.

The Annual Conference, formerly called the Annual Meeting, is held in a different U.S. city each year, and is hosted by local Partners in collaboration with the NPN/VAN National Office. For the 2017 meeting we’ll be in San Francisco, CA, December 14-17, 2017.

Past meetings have been held in the following cities. Links indicate years in which information is still available online:

The National Performance Network, including the Visual Artists Network (NPN/VAN), is a group of diverse cultural organizers and artists, working to create meaningful partnerships and to provide leadership that enables the practice and public experience of the arts in the United States.

Patterned after NPN's model performing arts program, the Visual Artists Network was launched in 2007 as a pilot, and in 2009 the program was formally established through the induction of the VAN Partners, fifteen leading contemporary arts organizations from across the United States.

The boundaries between the performing and visual arts are more than blurred: "Performance art" on the stage and "installations" in a gallery. Using the residency model of a touring performing artist, VAN is a way for the visual artist to engage in community.

Patterned after NPN's model performing arts program, the Visual Artists Network was launched in 2007 as a pilot, and in 2009 the program was formally established through the induction of the VAN Partners, fifteen leading contemporary arts organizations from across the United States.

The boundaries between the performing and visual arts are more than blurred: "Performance art" on the stage and "installations" in a gallery. Using the residency model of a touring performing artist, VAN is a way for the visual artist to engage in community.